Each year, the Historical Association runs ‘Young Quills’, a competition for published historical fiction for children and young adults (14+). The Young Quills books for each year must be published for the first time in English in the year preceding the competition – so 2025 for this year’s selection.

Our aim is to seek out books which:

• Are a ‘good read’, engaging the imagination of the young reader
• Have good historical content and factual information
• Have history as a component of the story, not just a convenient backdrop or setting
• Inspire young readers to find out more about that historical period or people.

Our judges are all adults, so to get the opinions of young readers, copies of the books were sent out to a number of schools where the teachers have kindly volunteered to recruit pupils to read and review them. We always receive a magnificent number of reviews, which guide the shortlisting process.

This year's shortlisted books are below. Some of the young people's reviews of this year’s books will be available soon on our website. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Autumn.

5-8 years category

Title	Author (publisher)
The Boy Who Became Queen	Christina Balit (Otter Barry Books)

8-11 years category

Title	Author (publisher)
Becoming Grace	Hilary McKay (Barrington Stoke)
Dance of Resistance	Catherine Johnson (Barrington Stoke)
My Family, the Enemy	Karen McCombie (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Shrapnel Boys	Jenny Pearson (Usborne Publishing)
The Line They Drew Through Us	Hiba Noor Khan (Andersen Press)
Wrong Tracks	Susan Brownrigg (Fox & Ink Books)

11-13 years category

Title	Author (publisher)
Kata and Tor	Kevin Crossley-Holland (Walker)
The Dawn of Adonis	Phil Earle (Andersen Press)
To War With Wallace	Barbara Henderson (Luath Press Ltd)
Under a Fire-Red Sky	Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne Publishing)
Under the London Sky	Anna Woltz (Rock the Boat/ Oneworld Publications)

14+ years category

Title	Author (publisher)
Black Star	Kwame Alexander (Andersen Press)
Lobster Blue	Jacqueline King (ZunTold)
Songs for Ghosts	Clara Kumagai (Bloomsbury Publishing)
The Boy I Love	William Hussey (Andersen Press)